Scientific Involvement
by MATT SUNSTON
Summary: Nearing Christmas, things have been slow at the precinct and the Wright Anything Agency. Bored, Ema Skye decides to pay Apollo a visit.
1. An Invitation

**December 17th**

**2:32 PM**

**Criminal Affairs Department**

Ema's fingers scraped the empty bottom of her latest Snackoo bag, and the detective let out a sigh. Crumpling the bag, she tossed it into the nearby garbage can and turned back to her desk. There had been a lull in the number of violent crimes in the area in recent times, and, while she was glad that nobody had been murdered as of late, it left her job rather uninteresting. As she scanned through the notices that peppered her computer screen, she found her thoughts drifting away from work.

It had been just over two months since the Misham trial, and the businesses of the city were in the thick of their Christmas rush. Plenty of petty thefts had been reported, but nothing had reached her office.

She had visited Mr. Wright the previous day to discuss recent times, and had been glad to hear that he was preparing to retake the bar exam and reclaim his Attorney's Badge. Trucy had been working hard to ensure that her holiday magic shows were top-of-the-line, but was somehow still finding time to assist Apollo is the rash of minor theft trials he had been involved in. Ema had briefly spoken to Apollo during her visit, as well. He was more relaxed than she had ever seen him, as for the first time in his fledgling career, he was dealing with the calm nature of said theft trials, rather than the heavy work involved in murder cases. Even so, he seemed to become humourously flustered as he spoke to her, nervously flattening his hair down as he so often did when embarrassed in court.

_-The previous day-_

Ema knocked on Apollo's office door, and a few moments later, it opened.

"Hey, Ema! Trucy said you were here." the attorney said, smiling. He was wearing significantly more casual clothing than usual, but still seemed to have chosen his attire to look professional. He held the door open, and Ema stepped in. She smiled as she looked around at the orderly state the room was in.

_Of course Apollo's room would be this much neater than the rest of the Agency._

Apollo sat down at his desk and turned his chair to face Ema. He motioned to his bed, and she sat down as well. Ema looked curiously at the bed.

"You sleep here now, Apollo?" she asked. Apollo nodded.

"Yep. Mr. Wright thought that, since I spend nearly all my time here, I might as well leave my apartment and stay in the office. It's the same thing that he did when he first adopted Trucy, after all."

"So, how have the last couple of months gone?" Ema asked.

"They've been alright. Everything's calmed down since Vera's trial, so I've just been handling a few holiday season theft cases. It's definitely helped with funding, so we should be all set for a good Christmas." Ema popped open her ever-present bag of Snackoos as she listened, and began to munch away. As Apollo finished speaking, she stopped and responded.

"Well, that's good to hear. Everything's been calm down at the precinct as well. I've had literally nothing to deal with since that trial, myself. If you need help with anything, give me a call. I'm sure I could persuade old Gumshoe to let me take a break to investigate with you. Scientifically, of course." Apollo smirked at the last bit of her statement.

"It'd be nice to have you around for investigations." he said, "Trucy's been moping a fair bit, ever since the Gavinners split up. Haven't even really had opportunities to talk to Klavier outside of court, eith-"

_-ka-tonk-_

Apollo was cut off as a Snackoo struck his forehead.

"Did we not agree not to discuss him?" Ema asked, reaching back into the bag.

"Right, sorry." Apollo said, frowning. Ema glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Damn. I've gotta head back to the precinct and check in with Gumshoe." she said, standing up. She headed for the door as Apollo turned back to his desk, but stopped as she reached for the doorknob. She stepped over to Apollo and leaned over his desk.

"I'm serious, Apollo, it's gotten really boring down there recently." she leaned closer to his face. "_Really_ boring." she stressed. Apollo's face reddened slightly, and he grinned nervously, flattening his hair down with one hand.

"I-I'll let you know as soon as something comes up." he muttered, leaning away a bit.

Ema straightened up and returned to the door.

"See you then, Apollo." she said, smiling. She opened the door and stepped out.

"Er, yeah. See you." she heard him stutter.


	2. Apollo's Take

**December 16th**

**6:22 PM**

**Wright Anything Agency**

Apollo stammered a farewell to Ema as she left his room. He looked back at the laptop on his desk and tried to return his focus to his work. But, as he sat there, his thoughts returned to what had happened moments before her departure. When Ema had leaned forward over his desk to clarify her point about her boredom, her face had been mere inches away from his own. His attention had immediately been drawn to her brown eyes as she looked intently at him. As she spoke, her breath had, naturally, been heavily laced with the smell of chocolate from her endless supply of Snackoos. He had felt his face heating up profusely, and hardly registered what she had been saying, but still caught enough to agree to her offer.

This wasn't like him at all. He shook his head and stared at the computer screen, trying again to focus. A moment later, another knock sounded at the door. He got up, crossed the room, and reached for the handle, but as he did so, the door swung open. Trucy stood in the doorway, grinning at him.

"What is it, Trucy-" he began, breaking off as Trucy started to giggle. "What are you laughing at?" he inquired.

"Your face is all red, Polly." she responded, trying to stifle her laughter.

"N-no, it isn't." Apollo stammered, lowering his head. Trucy only giggled even more in response.

"Sure, it is." she said. "You were just talking to Ema, and now you're blushing so much that your face nearly matches your suit. It's not hard to notice, Polly."

Apollo began to breathe more steadily in an effort to relax, and Trucy continued, "Come on, Daddy says we're going to get some food." she grabbed onto Apollo's

sleeve and pulled him along toward the office door. Phoenix stood just outside the office, his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Hey, Apollo." he said, smiling. "I know you two have been working really hard on all these trials recently, so I figured I'd take you both out for some food." Apollo raised an eyebrow as he looked at Phoenix.

"That's oddly generous of you, Mr. Wright." he said. Phoenix just chuckled and began to walk down the hallway, toward the elevator. As Apollo and Trucy followed him, Trucy spoke up again.

"Y'know, Polly, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've got a bit of a crush on Ema." Apollo's head jerked toward Trucy.

"No way, Trucy. Ema's just friendly, and-"

"_Really _pretty." Trucy cut in, smirking at him. "So, what did you two talk about?"

"Ema was just saying that she's been really bored at work, recently." Apollo said, hoping Trucy would give up in her questioning.

"C'mon, Polly. If that was all she said, she'd only have been in your room for ten seconds." Trucy responded, glaring slightly at him. Apollo sighed.

"She also offered to help out with some of our investigations in her free time." he said quickly. Trucy broke into giggles once again. "What are you laughing about now?" Apollo asked, his face reddening the tiniest bit.

"Completely clueless." Trucy said, shaking her head.

"I think it'd be good for you to spend some time around Ema, Apollo." Phoenix said, pressing the button to call the elevator. "You've read up on the case that she helped me out with way back, right?"

"Her older sister's trial, you mean?" Apollo asked.

"That's the one. Ema's a little overenthusiastic sometimes, but when it comes to science, she really knows her stuff." Phoenix responded, as the doors opened. Apollo thought for a moment. When he thought about Ema, 'enthusiastic' was _not_ a word that came to mind. Phoenix laughed, seeing the confused look on Apollo's face.

"I know what you're thinking, but I'm serious. Ema used to be a really bubbly sort of girl, not too different from Trucy, really. Just switch out magic for science, and they're practically the same."

"Polly, you must have noticed by now. Ema's like a totally different person when you bring up her scientific investigation techniques." Trucy chimed in, still smiling.

"Yeah, but..." Apollo was getting thoroughly flustered by this point, and struggled to think of something to say to counter their points. He came up with nothing, however, and sighed again. "Alright, I'll give her a call tomorrow. We've got to look into those stolen deliveries from the department store, so we could get her help for it."

"That's the way." Phoenix said, his smile still holding fast.

_-The following day-_

Still musing over her thoughts, Ema glanced toward her cell phone. As if on cue, it suddenly began to ring. She half considered waiting a moment to hear the digitized Steel Samurai theme, but answered the phone regardless.

"Ema Skye here." she said.

"Hey, Ema. It's Apollo. You know that offer you made yesterday?" Ema smiled.

"Of course I do. You got anything you want to look into?" she responded.

"Yeah, me and Trucy are down at the department store right now. There were some boxes that vanished from a delivery truck, and the manager suspects the delivery guy of stealing them. You got some free time?"

"Definitely. I'll just let Gumshoe know, and then I'll be right there."

"Alright, we'll see you then."

"See you." Apollo's end of the call clicked off, and Ema tucked her phone into her lab coat pocket. She stood up and left her office. "Hey, Gumshoe!" she called.

"Ema, you heading off somewhere?" came the other detective's voice.

"Yeah. Give me a call if something comes up." Ema said, walking toward the front doors.

"Will do, pal!" Gumshoe called from his desk.


	3. A Necessary Push

**December 17th**

**3:19 PM**

**Criminal Affairs Department Entrance**

As Ema walked through the front doors of the precinct, the biting wind immediately began to take its effect. She pulled her lab coat more tightly around her shoulders as she started down the sidewalk. The department store was quite a short walk from the precinct, and she quickly began to scan around the area for Apollo and Trucy. After a minute with no sign of them, she reached the parking lot. While there were, of course, an incredible number of cars and other vehicles packed into the expansive lot, there were relatively few people. Most seemed to be making a point to rush from one place to another to avoid the cold.

Finally, Ema spotted a familiar pair of spikes pointing up from the head of someone in a dark coat.

"Hey, Ema!" Apollo called out, waving to her. He was standing next to Trucy, who was examining the exterior of a large delivery truck. Trucy stood up to wave as well when Apollo shouted, and Ema returned the gesture.

"Hi, Apollo, Trucy." she said as she neared them. "How's the scene looking?"

"There's definite evidence that somebody was in the back of the truck between its departure from the factory and its arrival at the store," Apollo began,

"But we're gonna need your shoe printing kit to determine if it was the driver." Trucy finished. Apollo nodded.

"According to the driver, the missing stuff is worth several thousand dollars, and the store manager's accusing the truck's driver of stealing everything and is ready to

take the matter to court." he said. Ema nodded as she took the information in, and reached into her bag. She pulled out the necessary equipment and walked over to

the truck. "Also, Trucy and I-" Apollo began, only to be cut off by an elbow in the gut from Trucy.

"_Apollo _bought you a bag of Snackoos as thanks for helping us out." Trucy said. "Go on, give them to her." Apollo grinned nervously and held out the bag, which Ema

immediately pulled from his hand. Without a second thought, she tore open the bag and started on the contents.

"Thanks, _**-MUNCH- **_Apollo." she said through a half-filled mouth. "You've _**-MUNCH-**_ laid down a print of the driver's _**-MUNCH-**_ boot, right?"

"Of course." Trucy said, motioning to a trail of prints lining the snow next to the truck.

**December 17th**

**3:54 PM**

**Department Store Delivery Lot**

"Thanks again for all your help, Ema." Apollo said as Ema slung her bag back over her shoulder. She brushed a lock of hair away from her face and smiled.

"Not a problem, Apollo. Scientifically speaking, it was a simple process. Let me know if anything else comes around, OK? There's still nothing happening down at the precinct." she responded.

"We'll be sure to." Trucy said. The group traded farewells as Ema started to walk back across the parking lot.

"That went well." Apollo said to Trucy. "We should have everything we need to prove that the driver wasn't involved in the trial tomorrow." In response, Trucy simply folded her arms and frowned up at him.

"What's wrong, Trucy?"

"Still completely clueless, aren't you, Polly?" she said impatiently. She rolled her eyes at Apollo's blank expression and continued, "You _know _that you wanted to ask Ema out, so why didn't you?" Apollo groaned.

"Trucy, Ema's three years older than me. She wouldn't be interested." Trucy lightly hit Apollo in the arm.

"That's not a real excuse, Apollo. Ema wouldn't be so friendly with you if that were true. You appreciate her love of science, and how handy it is for investigations. That's why she likes you. Now, go catch up with her and give it a shot." she said, staring him in the face. Apollo hesitated, and Trucy began to shove him backward.

"Alright, Trucy, I'm going." he said, turning in the direction of Ema's retreating back. He jogged after her, and caught up just outside of the parking lot.

"What's up, Apollo?" she asked, turning around. Apollo's hand flew up to his head and he began to nervously flatten his hair again.

"Er, Ema? Do you want to-" he broke off, his face heating up again. Ema stared at him, her fingers twisting around a lock of her hair. "Do you... I mean, want to...go out for lunch or something after the trial tomorrow morning?" he stammered. Ema continued to stare at him, as his face somehow found a way to redden even further. Finally, she smiled.

"Sure. I'd like that." she said, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment. "Come by the precinct when everything wraps up. I'm sure Gumshoe wouldn't mind, as long as it's still calm down there then." With that, she turned and continued her walk down the sidewalk. Apollo stood in silence, and Trucy approached him from behind. She gave a resigned sigh. "You are _so_ tactless, Polly." Apollo glared. "But, you still did it. Nice job." Trucy smiled and began to walk back down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, toward the office. Apollo followed along, his blush finally subsiding.


	4. Mulling Things Over

**December 18th**

**11:22 AM**

**District Court**

Apollo and Trucy walked down the steps outside the courthouse, amongst the crowd departing.

"That went pretty well, didn't it, Apollo?" Trucy asked as they were finally free of the crowd.

"True enough. There really wasn't any way that we could have lost, though. Not with the evidence we had gathered, anyway." Apollo responded.

"You mean, with _Ema's_ evidence, right?" Trucy asked, nudging Apollo's side. Apollo gave an exasperated groan.

"You're really not gonna give me a break, are you?" he asked resignedly. Trucy smirked.

"You won't have to worry about hearing me talk about it in a bit, seeing as you're meeting with Ema for your date right away." she answered, forcing back another fit of laughter.

"It's not-" Apollo had barely begun his sentence when Trucy cut across him.

"Knock it off, Polly. You asked Ema out on a date. There's no other way to put it, so don't try to pick any fancy words to work around it."

Experience had long since taught Apollo that there was no point whatsoever in arguing with Trucy Wright; Her mind was on an entirely different plane than those of others.

"Now, I'm gonna go back to the office, you go on over to the precinct right away." Trucy instructed him as if she were giving a lecture. "Don't do anything dumb and mess it up, alright?" Without waiting for Apollo's response, Trucy set off down the road. Apollo turned the other way, setting off for the precinct. The usual chill wind was still relentlessly rushing through the city, making him wish that he could drive to his destination. Even so, the walk gave him time to think things over. Looking at what he was doing, he idly wondered why he had agreed to ask Ema out. He wanted to think that it was his resolve that brought him to it, but one small part of his mind nagged at him. _It was really Trucy that made you do it,_ the thought bothered him more than he supposed it should have. The previous day, following their departure from the department store, Apollo had thought his choice over. It had become clear to him that there really wasn't any point in pretending that he wasn't at least slightly attracted to Ema. She was confident in her work, even if she was stuck in a job that she couldn't stand. She didn't let that sort of frustration stop her from getting through her work. She remained friendly toward him, even though they were so often against each other in cases, and that thought brought a slight smile to his face. Even when Ema was annoyed with something, she never really seemed angry. At worst, she would put on a cute sort of pout, and busy herself with eating a truly astonishing number of Snackoos. While Apollo couldn't understand why Ema loved her choice of snack food so much, he could hardly say that he disliked them.

After a few minutes spent walking, Apollo rounded the corner into the precinct's parking lot. He walked through the front doors, and glanced around. A small signboard displaying the locations of the various departments was mounted on the wall next to the entryway. He followed the posted directions to Criminal Affairs, and looked across the room to the line of offices. His gaze was passing by a series of uninteresting nameplates when a booming voice sounded near him, making him jump to the side.

"You're a defense attorney, eh, pal?" a large man in a thoroughly ragged and dusty brown trench coat asked. Apollo was still recovering from the shock as the man spoke again. "You're that hotshot new guy from Mr. Wright's office, aren't you? Apollo Jurist or somethin'?" Apollo groaned quietly.

"Justice." he corrected, straightening up.

"Right, knew it was something like that. I'm Chief Detective Dick Gumshoe, pal. I used to work a lot of Mr. Wright's cases." Apollo looked at Gumshoe for a few moments. By the look of him, he certainly didn't seem like the sort of detective to be promoted to Chief.

"Anyway, you looking for someone, pal?" Gumshoe asked, ending the rather awkward silence.

"Er, yeah. Where's Detective Skye's office?" Apollo inquired.

"Ema? She's just over there. You might want to be careful with greeting her, though, pal. Prosecutor Gavin was just in her office, and you probably know how she gets after talking to him." Gumshoe responded.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, sir." Apollo said, starting toward the office door. Behind him, Gumshoe chuckled to himself. Apollo knocked on the door, and Ema answered. She certainly looked annoyed, but softened slightly upon seeing him.

"Hey, Apollo." she said, lowering the Snackoo bag she was carrying.

"You weren't about to throw those at me, were you?" Apollo asked, forcing a laugh.

"Sorry, I thought that you might have been the fop, again." she muttered, setting the bag down. "Must have been a short trial, huh?"

"Yeah. The store manager didn't really have much of a case to work on, and Payne's hardly an imposing prosecutor." Apollo said, with his usual nervous grin. "You ready to go?"

Ema nodded. "Definitely. Let's get going before Gavin comes around again." With that, Ema slung her bag onto her shoulder and stepped out of the office.

"Gumshoe," she called across the room, "I'm going out for a little while with Apollo here. Let me know if anything happens, as usual, OK?" Gumshoe gave her a wide grin.

"Alright, pals. I'll make sure of it. You two have a good time."

Apollo trailed behind Ema as they departed from the precinct. He didn't usually notice, but Ema was slightly taller than him. He shook his head and carried on.

_Not the best time to be feeling insecure, Justice._


	5. Clarification

**December 18th**

**11:52 AM**

**Precinct Parking Lot**

Ema stopped at the edge of the parking lot and turned to Apollo.

"So, where are we heading?" she asked, her frown from her run-in with Klavier finally beginning to fade. Apollo's expression went blank. Ema waited for a moment, before crossing her arms and speaking up. "You mean to tell me that you went to all the trouble of asking me out to lunch, and coming by to pick me up, and you never picked out a place to eat?" Apollo's hand slid up to his prominent forehead as he sank into his increasingly common blush. "Sounds like Apollo Justice, alright." Ema finished, giving him a light pat on the shoulder and smiling. Apollo lowered his hand, looking slightly confused. Ema smirked.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad about it. After all, you had to work up the courage to ask me out, anyway. The least I can do is give you some leeway. I'd suggest that we go down to the Borscht Bowl Club, but, from a scientific perspective, your face suggests that you'd be mortified to have Mr. Wright see you out with me."

"I...guess you'd be right about that." Apollo said, scratching the back of his head.

"There's a place I frequent a couple of blocks over." Ema said, motioning over her shoulder. "Let's head there." Apollo nodded, and the two set off down the road. After a minute's walk, Ema stopped outside a small deli-like restaurant.

"Here we are." she said. Apollo paused for a moment, before suddenly darting forward to hold the door open for Ema. Ema just looked at him, giving a small laugh at his abrupt and rather forced move. "Thanks, Apollo."

The two sat down at a small booth and Apollo finally took a proper look at Ema. She seemed to have gotten over her annoyance with Klavier, but he was getting increasingly worried that he was pushing his own luck with mistakes.

"Hi there, Ema!" a feminine voice called from behind the counter. "The usual?" Ema turned and responded.

"Yeah. I'll get a second for my friend here, as well." A bright-eyed woman looked out from the kitchen and saw Apollo.

"Hey, somebody finally asked you out, Ema?" the woman asked, giving Apollo a friendly, but appraising sort of look.

"Yep. This is Apollo. You might have heard about him, he's a defense attorney." Ema responded. The woman turned back to Apollo.

"Justice, right?" she asked. Apollo nodded, and she continued. "Yeah, I heard about you. You were in that big trial where they brought in a jury, right?" Apollo nodded again. "Quiet one, huh? Well, Ema. I wouldn't have guessed you'd pick a defense attorney, considering your old crush on Mr. Edgeworth." Apollo's head jerked back to Ema.

"You know Prosecutor Edgeworth?" he asked. Ema shrugged.

"Kind of. I met him way back when I helped Mr. Wright out with one of his cases, and again when I came back from abroad for spring break seven years ago. And, like Rosa here was _so kind _as to remind me, I had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on him for a while." she said, idly fiddling with a loose hair strand. It seemed as if this wasn't a topic she was particularly interested in discussing, so Apollo remained silent. The moment dragged on into an extended period of aggravating silence, before Ema picked up the conversation again.

"Come on, Apollo. You can relax, this isn't like you at all. Where's the snarky, serious Apollo I'm used to?" Apollo leaned back slightly in his chair, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry, Ema. I'm just...not experienced at this. Casual conversation isn't really my strong suit, either." he mumbled, mentally kicking himself for what had to be tenth time that morning alone.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Apollo. You're not at risk of losing a case just by talking to me." Ema said warmly, "You just need to lighten up and talk like you would to anybody else."

"That's the thing, Ema. It's different if I'm talking to Trucy or Mr. Wright. There, I've already got a fairly good idea of how they'll react and how I can go about responding to them, but this isn't like that." Apollo explained.

"Why not? What makes it so different for you? You talk to me all the time during investigations." Ema questioned.

"I'm just...worried about making mistakes." Apollo responded. Ema gave him a slight smirk. He felt marginally better having admitted this, but still looked apprehensive. Just then, the other girl, Rosa, approached their table.

"Here you are, you two." she said, flashing Apollo a more genuine smile than those from earlier. After setting two trays down, she returned to the kitchen. At that moment, it occurred to Apollo that he didn't actually know what Ema had ordered for them. Looking down at the tray, he saw a reasonably sized sandwich backed by a generous salad. He glanced up at Ema, but before he could speak, she did.

"I'll say it again, Apollo, you need to relax. I'm not sitting here and waiting for you to mess up so I can laugh in your face. It might interest you to know that I've never been on a date, myself." Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"You serious?" he asked, surprised. To his further surprise, Ema laughed.

"Come on, what kind of high school did you go to, Apollo? Did the science geeks there ever get a date?" she asked. Words flew from Apollo's mouth before he could

think.

"But you're so pretty-" he blurted, cutting himself off and slamming a hand to his face. Ema stopped laughing.

_Now you've really done it._

After a tense moment, he lowered his hand and looked back up. To his utter shock, Ema had a wide smile on her face. After watching his bewildered expression for a moment, she broke back into laughter.

"Apollo, did you just hide your face out of shame because you_ complimented_ me?" she asked between decidedly uncharacteristic giggles. Apollo remained silent for another moment, and Ema continued, "That was a really sweet thing to say. You haven't done anything wrong." Finally, she set into her lunch, and Apollo followed suit.

_I guess I can add good taste in food to the positives about Ema, _he thought.

The two sat in relative silence as they worked through their lunches. After finishing, Ema pushed her tray to the side of the table and once again looked back to Apollo. Shortly after, he finished as well, and Ema spoke up again.

"I'm still wondering about something, Apollo." she began. Apollo looked directly at her, and she continued, "The whole time we've been here, it's seemed as if you're unsure about why I agreed to go out with you at all." Apollo's embarrassment was once again on the rise, and in relation, Ema was beginning to wonder whether Apollo's hand had spent more time nervously scratching his head or sitting on the tabletop. After another several seconds spent stuttering, he finally forced out an answer.

"It's just..." he fumbled for the best wording, "I didn't really expect you to agree," Ema frowned slightly at this, "I've figured that you'd be more interested in someone like..." he trailed off into silence. Ema leaned over the table, looking at Apollo suspiciously.

"Liiiiike?" she pressed.

"Er, like...someone like Klav-" Ema's hand practically flew to his mouth, cutting him off.

"If I'd brought my Snackoos with me, you don't even want to _know_ how many you'd be hiding from right now." she snapped, apparently genuinely annoyed. "Apollo, I agreed to go out with you because I _like_ you. Unlike Klavier, you don't force yourself into the face of every girl you see. You're friendly, helpful, and smart, but you still balance it out by being witty and fun." she was quite impressed by how red his face could go in such a short time. "On top of that, you actually appreciate science and everything it can do. Scientifically speaking, I think you're a pretty good match for me." she finished, pulling her hand away. Apollo sat in his chair, seemingly stunned.

"Th-thanks, Ema." he forced out.

Moments later, Rosa returned.

"Quite a first date you two are having," she mused. "Here's your bill." Apollo pulled out his wallet and paid for the meal, still blushing profusely. Ema stood up.

"Thanks, Rosa." she said, moving to Apollo's side of the table. She offered her hand to Apollo, flashing another smile. "I'm still not getting anything from Gumshoe. Why don't we go to the park?" she suggested. Apollo reluctantly took a hold of her hand as they made their way out of the restaurant. Ema led the way, thinking to herself.

_He really is pretty cute when he's embarrassed, even if that is nearly all the time._


	6. Admissions

**December 18th**

**2:19 PM**

**People Park**

Apollo and Ema sat on an isolated bench near the middle of the park. Ema was glad to see that Apollo finally seemed to be relaxing. He wasn't quite into the state she usually saw him in during investigations or trials, but it was a start. At the very least, he was talking without needed to be asked questions first.

"Trucy's got another of her holiday shows tomorrow night." he said, still bravely pushing through a conversation. "Would you be interested in coming to it with me?" Ema nodded and responded,

"Sure. I haven't been able to get tickets for any of them recently, but you could work around that, couldn't you?"

"I think so. Trucy was really determined to get me to ask you out, so I doubt she'd say no to sparing a few extra tickets." Apollo said. Ema raised an eyebrow.

"So, it really wasn't just your decision to ask me, was it?" she asked. Apollo gave a nervous chuckle and shrugged. "It's OK, Apollo. You were the one who made the choice in the end." Apollo turned and looked out across the park.

"I guess this was where we met you, wasn't it?" he said. With a small laugh, Ema responded,

"More like where I first ignored you. Only came around once you brought out that fingerprint powder, didn't I?" Apollo laughed in turn.

"I guess so. Mr. Wright gave that to me, when I told him that you were heading the investigation here. He thought it might make you open up a bit." he explained.

"Sounds like Mr. Wright. That was the same old set that I gave him nine years ago, believe it or not." Ema said, staring fixedly into the sky.

"It's really unfortunate that you couldn't get into forensics. The more Mr. Wright talked about your enthusiasm for it, the harder it got to believe that you were in

Criminal Affairs." Apollo mused, turning back to Ema.

"Yeah," she mumbled, looking slightly bitter. "Let's not talk about that, 'kay?"

"Sure." Apollo stared into the ground for a moment. Even if Ema had been trying to reassure him back in the restaurant, he still felt uncomfortable with choosing conversation topics. In spite of Ema's promise that she wasn't judging him based on it, there was still a nagging doubt in the back of his mind. He turned and looked at her again. Without really thinking about it, he began to silently admire her profile. For some reason, he couldn't seem to stop staring at her face. The way her hair lightly swayed in the breeze, even the small strands that draped down the sides of her face, seemed to draw his attention unavoidably.

Several moments passed before Ema realized that Apollo was staring so intently at her. Without moving to face him, she spoke,

"Y'know, Apollo. There's something I'm wondering about." he twitched slightly. "Back in the restaurant, you said something about me that caught my interest." Even out of the corner of her eye, she could see his face turning its unique shade of red. "You know what I'm talking about. Something to do with me being 'so pretty', right?" Apollo dropped his gaze slightly and Ema finally turned to him. "Anything else you care to add about that, _Polly_?" he gave another twitch at her use of the nickname, but remained silent. Ema smirked.

"I might not have that shiny bracelet of yours, but it doesn't take a scientific genius to see that you're getting pretty twitchy." she said, unable to conceal her grin. Apollo blanched. Ema was like a totally different person in a casual conversation like this. She wasn't acting bitter and dismissive, like she would at work. There really wasn't much sense hiding his thoughts from her. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he finally spoke,

"I...really do think..." Ema leaned a bit closer, "that you're really...er...really beautiful, Ema."

At his words, a wider smile than Apollo had ever seen Ema wear appeared on her face.

"Twitching _and _stuttering, huh? I think I'm starting to see how you do that in court, now." she said, the smile holding firm on her face. Suddenly, she swung around on the bench to face him fully. Apollo looked into her face nervously. "One thing's missing, though." she said, leaning toward him. Apollo forgot about the chill in the air entirely as he felt Ema firmly press her lips against his forehead. If it was possible for his face to heat up any more than it did at that moment, he'd be beyond impressed.

Ema leaned back, her smile still intact.

With a playful look in her eye, she whispered,

"Gotcha."

* * *

Dear me, that was an impossibly cheesy ending, wasn't it? Eh, can't fault myself for trying, I guess.


End file.
